


Oh Look, The Apocalypse Happened

by vividKaleidescopes



Category: Apocalypsestuck - Fandom, Homestuck
Genre: Explicit Language, F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-06-06 16:58:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6762409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vividKaleidescopes/pseuds/vividKaleidescopes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Karkat's older brother, Kankri, doesn't return from a foraging mission one morning. With Walkers roaming the streets, Karkat decides to look for him, fearing his life may be in danger. But Karkat is not as prepared as he thought to handle the post-apocalyptic world. With no weapons, no athletic ability, and no natural instincts...Let's face it, this is obviously a bad decision on his part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Weren't Ready. At All.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! I'm back with another fic! In the past I have (to my great disappointment) found very little fanwork for the Apocalypsestuck AU, so this is my contribution. I hope it's halfway decent, I've already spent a week with writers block on this. Let me know what you think in the comments!  
> ~Vivid

It was pouring rain, making the asphalt and concrete under his feet slick as he ran. The boy had dark brown hair that was stuck to his face and neck, and bright emerald eyes desperately searching for an escape route, cold water soaking his ankles as he ran through a puddle. His name was Karkat Vantas, and he could hear the growls and snarls of the Walkers close behind him. The creatures were like zombies in that they ate human flesh and once you got bit you became one, but they were much smarter, faster, and stronger. The perfect predator. A group of about 5 had found the brunette when he had gone out to look for his older brother earlier, who hadn’t returned from last nights food gathering expedition. It was just the two of them, in that dark, cold house. Or it had been, anyway. He wheezed and huffed as he sprinted. Asthma was a bitch, especially when you were running for your life. He skidded around a corner only to find that the alley was a dead-end. His heart hammered as he turned and backed against the brick wall, watching the Walkers close in. This was it, this was the end.  
            A whistle echoed down the alley, and the Walkers all turned, staring at the platinum blonde haired man that had appeared behind them in the alley entrance. Karkat couldn’t help but stare as well, more than a little dumbfounded. He looked to be about his same age, around 18 or 19, though it was hard to tell because of the mirror shades he wore. He wasn’t anything special to look at until you noticed his height. He easily cleared six feet, maybe even six and a half. He had a sword, a katana, strapped to his back underneath a small backpack, and two hunting knives strapped to each outer thigh. He had a dagger in his hand and an empty sheath at his left hip. Not a gun in sight. The guy was insane, he was going to get himself killed. The Walkers didn’t hesitate to rush him, their faces twisted into almost grin-like snarls. The blonde didn’t hesitate either, shoving his dagger through the first Walker’s eye and jerking it sideways, breaking its neck with a sickening snap that echoed through the alley. He pulled his sword out and lopped two of their heads off in one sweep, then a third in one more. He pinned the last of the creatures to the pavement, his boot on its chest, and cut it in half. Karkat was speechless. Everything had happened so fast his brain was having a hard time keeping up. There was blood everywhere, and the stranger was covered in it. He retrieved his dagger, sheathing both it and the sword with a huff. “Y’all okay?” His severe southern accent was the first thing Karkat noticed, and it struck him as odd, since they were so far north. A southern accent that was as movie cliché as his would’ve made Karkat laugh in almost any other situation. It was almost cartoonish.  
“Yeah, mostly. Who are you?” Karkat’s eyes widened a little as the blonde approached. Yep, definitely over six feet tall.  
“Dave Strider. You?”  
“Karkat Vantas.”  
“It would be a pleasure in any other situation, Vantas, but I hope you’re ready to do some more runnin’. We’re gonna have company here real quick if we don’t get movin’.” Dave glanced around briefly.  
“Where the hell can we go where they won’t find us? And since when did this operation become a “we”?”  
“Since you almost died from a group of Walkers and I saved your ass.” Fair enough, Karkat thought. He could already tell he wasn’t going to get along well with Dave, but that didn’t matter much right now. “And there’s a camp not too far from here with others like us. Survivors.”  
“There’s more people who haven’t been infected?” Karkat was in shock. How had Kankri not come across this place then? Or maybe he had. Who knew? He just hoped the worst hadn’t happened to his brother.  
“Yeah, quite a few. Follow me.”  
He didn’t argue, following Dave out of the alley. He noticed that Strider shortened his pace so that he didn’t leave Karkat behind. He wasn’t sure if he was slightly offended by this or not, but he was grateful for the protection the blonde offered. Fortunately they didn’t encounter any more Walkers as they navigated the close city streets. The camp was huge, taking up a several building radius in the southeast corner of town. A wall had been built around it, out of cinderblocks and anything else concrete or brick these survivors had been able to find. There was a set of double doors embedded in the wall, made of heavy oak. Dave called to the lookouts atop the wall as they neared, and one of them, a pretty girl with long black hair and bright green eyes - brighter than Karkat’s – framed by a pair of rounded glasses hopped down behind the wall and opened the doors for them. Karkat followed Dave through, and was surprised to see that the girl carried a rifle on her back. She seemed very cheery as she greeted them and introduced herself as Jade Harley. Karkat couldn’t help but smile as he introduced himself to her. Her general aura of cheeriness was contagious. He turned his attention to the rest of the camp, awestruck by its size. People milled about, doing their daily business. Some carried supplies, others were reinforcing the wall, some were sparring in the open area to his left (a 50 foot section of the main road, which had been left empty for that purpose).  
“There’s a lot of people here.” He stated smartly.  
Dave nodded. “Yeah. And we’re still findin’ more people out there. Like you. C’mon, I’m sure John will want to see you.”  
“John?”  
“He’s sort of the alpha dog ‘round here. Keeps everythin’ runnin’ smoothly, gives people jobs to do. Makes a functioning community out of the ragtag team he’s been given.” Dave started towards the back of the camp as he talked, swerving around people and slipping between them, and narrowly avoiding several collisions.  
Karkat was sort of impressed. Now that he looked at it, everything that went on around him did seem to have a certain degree of flow, like everyone knew each other and knew what their job was and what they had to do. “So what do you do?”  
“I assign weapons and maintain ‘em for people, as well as help John plan out who’s goin’ out into the city and when. A sort of weapons master I s’pose.” He knocked on the glass door of an office building before entering. “Egderp, I found another one.”  
The man Karkat assumed to be John was standing at the receptionist desk, looking down at a map in front of him. He had a pencil in hand and was jotting quick little things down in a journal. He looked up when Dave knocked, giving a quick smile. Eyes bluer than the sky locked onto Karkat and stared right into his soul from behind a pair of rectangular glasses, and his dark skin and pitch black hair only made them stand out more. He wore a dirty blue t-shirt and a pair of tan cargo shorts, and a pair of black hiking boots. He was well-built, more muscular than Dave, but also not as tall, only a few inches taller than Kar’s height of five foot six.  
“Who’s this?” His voice was surprisingly deep compared to his looks.  
“Karkat Vantas.” Karkat introduced himself quickly, confused by this man and the situation before him. The raven haired boy didn’t have a commanding air about him, but he still kept one’s attention somehow like someone of importance usually did. It was the strangest thing.  
John smiled again. “I’m John Egbert. I’m sure Dave’s already told you about me though. Welcome to our camp. You…” John frowned slightly. “…You don’t happen to have a brother, do you?”  
Karkat perked up, hope flaring in his emerald eyes. “Is Kankri here?” He barely remembered to breathe as John nodded, smiling. Kankri was here. He was safe.  
“Dave can take you to him, and he can help you get settled.” He turned his attention to the blonde, becoming serious again. “I need you back here afterwards.” Dave nodded once and turned, heading back out. Karkat hurried after him, anxious to see his brother. In between the buildings, tents had been set up, since most of the buildings were for purposes other than shelter. He knocked on one of the support poles of a bigger tent.  
Kankri poked his head out, questioning, then gasped quietly when he saw Karkat, rushing to him and pulling the younger against his plush, curvy figure. “Karkat, oh thank god you’re safe…” Karkat clung tightly to Kankri, nearly in tears, he was so happy and relieved to see him and his stupid red sweater he always wore. The two could pass for twins, their looks were so similar. The only difference was that of their builds. Dave waited at a distance until they separated, then came up and squeezed Karkat’s shoulder gently. “Come see me tomorrow and we’ll get you set up with weapons.”  
Karkat nodded. “Thank you.”  
The blonde smiled and headed back to John, another guy with spiky-ish sandy colored hair and weird pointy shades ran up and started walking with him, whatever he was talking about seeming very urgent as he made hand gestures as he talked.  
“Come on, let’s get you settled in. You can stay with me.” Kanrki took Karkat’s hand and pulled him inside the tent. Karkat just smiled. Usually he was irritated by Kankri’s mother-like nature towards him, and to be honest it was still mildly annoying. But it was welcome too now. They were safe. For the moment, at least.


	2. New Faces, New Weapons, New Friends...Same Old You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A lot can happen in a day. Karkat has already made new acquaintances - he wouldn't call them friends just yet - and started to settle in with the rest of the camp, as well as received a few friendly bruises from Terezi. All is as well and good as it can be in a zombie apocalypse, until Dave's older twin Dirk comes forth with some shocking and unbelievable news at a camp meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa it's been a long time. I'm out of school now though, so I should have a little more time to keep up on this. I can't believe how many Kudos this has gotten! Thank you guys so much, I'm so glad you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!   
> ~Vivid

Karkat awoke to the smell of…eggs and bacon? He sat up on his cot and looked over. There was a plate of still-warm eggs and bacon sitting there for him. Kankri wasn’t in the tent, and he could hear the sounds of people going about their business outside. They must’ve let him sleep through breakfast. He sat up more and set the plate on his lap, savoring every bite. It had been so long since he had had a fresh cooked meal like this, and it tasted heavenly. Kankri poked his head in when Karkat was nearly done. “Oh, good, you’re awake. You looked so soundly asleep I didn’t want to wake you up earlier.”   
“Well when is breakfast usually served?” Karkat looked up at him curiously.  
Kankri shrugged. “About 6:45.”   
Karkat’s eyes went wide. “Why so early?!”   
“Because nobody around here lazes around like you used to, and tomorrow you’ll be no exception. I’m waking you up so you can come eat with everyone else. Now hurry up and get dressed, you need to go see Dave and John today, remember?” And with that, Kankri left again. Karkat sighed. He didn’t really want to go see Dave. He seemed kind of pretentious and stoic yesterday, with a little bit of cocky indifference thrown in, besides that one split second he had smiled. Ah, “prick” was the word he was looking for. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do with his dishes, so he left them on the cot with his neatly folded blankets. He quickly got dressed, smiling at the too-big sweatshirt and loose jeans. Kankri had remembered his hatred of tight clothing. He looked around for his worn out Converse, only to find a pair of black combat boots sitting next to them. He pulled those on instead, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were as light, if not lighter, than his Converse. He left the tent and headed towards John’s building, his breath visible in the chilly air. There was a light layer of frost over everything, signaling that spring was still at least a few weeks off. He noticed a lot of couples as he passed through the camp, working together, holding hands, kissing cheeks. It made him feel a little lonely for a split second. He knocked lightly on the door before entering John’s “office”. John smiled up at him. “Morning. Sleep well?”   
Karkat nodded. “More or less.”   
“Good. I’m calling a meeting with the groups today, so we’ll place you in one of them then.”  
“Groups?” Karkat frowned.  
John leaned against his desk. “We have different groups who each have different jobs. Some go outside the walls and look for food and supplies, some go out and search for others who haven’t been infected. Some stay here and cook, do laundry, repair the walls and buildings, stuff like that.”  
Karkat nodded in understanding. “I see. So that way everybody has a job.”  
“Precisely. Now you should hurry and get to Dave before somebody else does.”  
“Is he that busy?”  
“Yes. There’s a lot of weapons in this camp, and only one of him, so you’ll have to forgive him for being so…” John frowned, searching for the right word.  
“Stoic?” Karkat provided.  
“Yes, that’s the word, thank you. Try not to kill each other, alright?” John patted his shoulder as he left the building. Too late, Karkat realized he had no clue where Dave was at. John had already disappeared into the depths of the camp when he ran out to stop him and ask. A redheaded girl with red glasses and a walking stick approached him. The handle of the stick was in the shape of a dragon head, and it was red with glittering opal eyes. She wore a plain black v-neck t-shirt, and a pair of army green cargo pants and mismatched Converse, one teal and one red. She gave him a grin reminiscent of a shark’s. “You seem lost.”  
Karkat nodded, reluctantly. “I kind of am. I don’t know where Strider is.”  
The girl tilted her head in confusion. “Which Strider?”  
“Wait, there’s more than one of them?” Oh lordie.  
“Yes, there’s Dave and then there’s his twin, Dirk. Which one are you looking for?”  
“Dave.”   
She grinned again. “Follow me. I’m Terezi, by the way.” She turned to lead the way but was stopped when a taller blonde girl with a blue streak in her bangs approached. The left lense of her glasses was blacked out. She wore a pair of plain red sneakers and blue jeans, along with a black tank top and a grey buttoned shirt over it. “John’s calling a meeting later, TZ. Who’s this?”  
“Karkat Vantas.” Karkat replied.  
“You must be new. I’m Vriska.”  
“I’m taking him to Dave’s workshop.” Terezi kissed Vriska quickly. “I’ll meet back up with you afterwards.”  
Karkat contained his smile. He had thought the two looked familiar. He had passed them on his way over, seen Vriska holding Terezi’s hand and kissing her cheek. He followed Terezi closely, not wanting to get lost again. She led him to a large, mostly brick building towards the back of the camp.   
“When you walk in, there’s a door in the back.”  
Karkat nodded. “Thank you.”  
Terezi grinned and headed off to meet back up with Vriska. Karkat pushed open the front door and walked to the one in the back, knocking. A set of heavy footsteps could be heard coming up a flight of stairs, and then the door opened to reveal Dave. “You’re here earlier than I thought you’d be. Come on down.” Karkat scowled at his comment, but followed him down the stairs, shutting the door behind him. He was rather impressed with the setup he saw once they reached the bottom. Black chain link fence panels were secured to every wall, and there was one that stuck out in the middle that almost seemed like a divider of sorts. The panels were completely covered with weapons of all sorts, from guns to blades to hammers and everything in between. The back half of the large room had various pieces of equipment and machinery.   
“So, you prefer a gun or a blade?” Dave glanced back at him.  
“Blade. I’m useless with a gun.”  
The blonde nodded a little as he examined the blade type weapons he had. “Somethin’ sword-like or shorter like a knife?”   
“Definitely shorter.”  
“You’re very decisive. I like it. Normal blade shape or somethin’ a little curvier?”  
A pair of sickles caught Karkat’s eye, a dark metal with black handles. “What about those?” he asked, gesturing to them.   
Dave raised his eyebrows and handed them to him. “I can’t say I’ve paid much attention to those, since nobody has ever used ‘em. They might need sharpenin’.”   
Karkat was surprised at how natural it felt to hold them, almost like they were made for him. “They feel right. I don’t know why, but they do.”  
Dave gave him a curt nod. “Well, then they’re yours.” He examined the edges of both, looking for any imperfections or dullness. Finding none, he took a step back. “You ever actually fought a Walker before?”  
Karkat shook his head. “No. Never been properly armed around one.”  
“Anyone ‘round here can teach ya the basics, but John, Terezi or Dirk would be your best bet to learn the finer points of fightin’ ‘em. You might have time to catch one of the latter two before John calls the meetin’.” Dave sighed. “I have to meet up with John, so I’ll see you around.” Karkat caught a faint scent of apples and cinnamon as Dave passed him and left the building. He followed more slowly, strapping the sickles to his left hip.   
A few hours and a few bruises from Terezi later, Karkat followed Kankri through the crowd. He hadn’t realized until now just how many people there really were in this camp. John had been there while Terezi and Karkat sparred, observing them and giving them pointers here and there. Kankri had given Karkat a rundown of the groups. The people that didn’t leave the camp didn’t really have very specific groups besides the Healers, whose name was fairly self-explanatory. Everyone sort of shared jobs inside the walls. But of the groups that went outside of them, there was only three: the Runners, who did a sweep of the city, eliminated any Walkers they found, and relayed their findings to the other two groups, the Finders and the Collectors. The Collectors gathered what supplies they could scrounge up and brought them back to camp, so there was more of them in the group as to add more hands when they were out in a mission. These excursions were called “Run-outs” by most. The Finders had one of the harder jobs: Finding others who hadn’t been Turned and bringing them back to camp safely. It could prove to be a dangerous job, and not just because of the Walkers. The rescuees were often armed when found. Terezi was a Runner, as was Vriska. Karkat had deducted from this info that Dave was a Finder. Kankri was a Healer.   
Everyone quieted down when John stepped forward. “Thank you all for being here, I won’t take up too much of your time. I also have good news, but there is something I need to do first. Karkat, will you come forward?”   
Karkat hesitated a moment, then moved forward to stand in front of John, looking up at him. It hadn’t hit him that this would be a public announcement, and there was knots starting to form in his stomach. “For those of you who haven’t met him yet, this is Karkat Vantas, our newest rescue. One group will be very lucky to have you, Karkat. I have decided, based on the skills and abilities you’ve displayed, that that group is going to be the Runners. You have the speed and skill with a blade – or should I say blades – that they need.” Karkat nodded and turned slightly to look at his new teammates, who cheered for him. Terezi was grinning, and even Vriska gave him a small smile. He returned to his position beside Kankri, and the sandy blonde with the Kamina shades he had seen talking to Dave yesterday stepped up to speak. Karkat realized how much this guy looked like Dave. Besides their hair colors and shades they looked identical, right down to the darkened skin tone. He must be Dirk, the twin Terezi had mentioned. He waited until he had everyones attention to speak, and Karkat was surprised at how soft his voice was. Yet his words were sharp, crystal clear and could be heard like he was standing less than two feet away, and had no trace of the southern accent Dave sported. “The good news…is that we may have finally found a cure for the outbreak. We haven’t gotten the chance to test it yet, but when we do we will certainly give an update with the results.” Everyone was silent. A cure? For the Walkers?


End file.
